Urban Crime, Unrest and Social Control

Philip O.Sijuwade

Abstract

While it is not entirely certain to what degree the actual rate of crime is greater in cities than in less urbanized places, a number of social and physical characteristics of cities may very well generate the kinds of conditions conducive to violations of the law. Urban life is commonly characterized by population density, social mobility, class and ethnic heterogeneity, reduced family functions, and greater anonymity. When these traits are found in high degree, and when they are combined with poverty, physical deterioration, low education, residence in industrial and commercial centers, unemployment, unskilled labor, economic dependency, marital instability and a cultural minority of inferiority, it is generally assumed that deviance is more likely to emerge.